Dan Snaith
Daniel Victor Snaith (born 29 March 1978) is a Canadian composer, musician, and recording artist. He has released 10 studio albums since 2000 and has recorded and performed under the stage names Caribou, Manitoba, and Daphni. His Caribou album Andorra (2008) was awarded the 2008 Polaris Music Prize, his Caribou album Swim (2010) was a shortlisted nominee for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize and was named the Best Album of 2010 by Resident Advisor. His follow-up Our Love (2014) was also shortlisted for the 2015 Polaris Music Prize and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album.
Dan Snaith
Daniel Victor Snaith
- Manitoba
- Caribou
- Daphni
29 March 1978
Dundas, Ontario, Canada
- Musician
- music producer
- Synthesizer
- drums
- guitar
- bass
Career[edit]
Snaith originally recorded under the stage name Manitoba; however, after being threatened with a lawsuit by Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba in 2004, Snaith changed his performance name to Caribou. Snaith's previous full-length albums were then re-released under the new moniker.
When playing gigs as Caribou, Snaith performs with a live band. Currently, the live band consists of Snaith, Ryan Smith, Brad Weber, and John Schmersal. Caribou have toured worldwide since the early 2000s. The band has performed at festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Primavera Sound, Field Day, Bonnaroo, All Points East, Reading and Leeds, Parklife, Osheaga, amongst many others. In 2012, Caribou supported Radiohead on their ‘King of Limbs’ tour. When performing as Daphni, Snaith performs as a DJ. "I'm not the type of person who takes physical things apart and plays around with them, but I like taking mental ideas apart and playing around with them. That's what appeals to me about what I've spent my life doing", said Snaith in an interview. [1]
Caribou's 2007 album Andorra won the 2008 Polaris Music Prize,[2] and his subsequent Caribou albums Swim (2010), Our Love (2014) and Suddenly (2020) have appeared on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist.
In 2011, looking for an outlet for more dancefloor influenced output, began releasing music under the name Daphni. He has released three studio albums under this alias - Jiaolong (2012), Joli Mai (2017) and Cherry (2022).
In December 2011, Caribou curated the All Tomorrow's Parties "Nightmare Before Christmas" festival in Minehead, England, alongside co-curators Battles and Les Savy Fav.[3]
Caribou was awarded Essential Mix of the Year in 2014 by Mixmag for his "Essential Mix" on 18 October 2014.[4]
Caribou's 2014 album Our Love received the IMPALA Album of the Year Award.
In 2015, Caribou’s album Our Love was nominated for a Grammy for ‘Best Electronic/Dance Album’ and in 2021 Caribou’s single ‘You Can Do it' was nominated for the Grammy for ‘Best Dance Recording’.
In 2011, 2015 and 2021, Caribou’s albums Swim, Our Love and Suddenly won the Juno Award for Electronic Album of the Year.
In 2021, he also received the Libera Awards as Best Dance/Electric Record 2021 for his album Suddenly (Merge Records) by the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM).[5]
Personal life[edit]
In 2005, Snaith received a PhD degree in mathematics from Imperial College London, for work on Overconvergent Siegel Modular Symbols under Kevin Buzzard.[6] Snaith described his work ironically in a modest manner as "original, but I would still call it trivial."[7] He is the son of mathematician Victor Snaith and brother of mathematician Nina Snaith.
